Former Dixon, Sauk Valley standout signs with Cougars

Dixon native Matt Ross always wanted to play Division-I college basketball. After making the decision to spend 2 years playing junior college hoops, he's accomplished that goal.

The former Dukes and Sauk Valley Skyhawks standout signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Chicago State University and play for the Cougars the next two seasons.

He's one of three players off the Skyhawks' 23-9 team to extend his playing career at a 4-year school. Stanley Moore will play at Ashford and Polo native Connor Lincoln at Eureka, while Winnebago native Mike Mann is still weighing his offers.

Princeton native Ryne Vrana will attend Illinois State, according to coach Russ Damhoff, but is not planning to play basketball.

Ross, the Skyhawks' MVP and a first-team all-conference selection this year, led the team in scoring (15.2 points per game).

He also led Sauk Valley in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and blocked shots (1.8 bpg) for the second straight season

"We had a lot of success this season, and Matt was a large part of that," Damhoff said. "It's always exciting for a coach when a player moves on to the Division I level, and it's fun for us and him that Matt got that opportunity.

"We're really going to miss him next year. We can't replace a player like him, so we're going to have to figure out a way to offset all that we've lost with him and the rest of the sophomores next season."

Ross, who did not return phone calls seeking comment, got to Sauk as a pure center after leading the Dukes to a 19-win season as a senior in 2009-10. His first season with the Skyhawks, he scored 11.5 points per game, grabbed 8.6 rebounds per contest and blocked 2.9 shots per game playing the center position.

Last year, he expanded his game even further as Damhoff moved him to a power forward position. He improved on his perimeter shooting and ballhandling, and was looking forward to continuing work on his ability to put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket.

"The two years here really worked out well for Matt," Damhoff said. "He was able to learn to play the college game at a position he was comfortable in two seasons ago, then developed his outside game a little bit when we moved him to the 4 position this year.

"The better the team we played, the more he came to play and helped carry us. I think that's a strong trait to take to the next level."

Damhoff said he believed a love of campus, a comfort level with the Cougars coaching staff and the proximity to his hometown as key reasons for Ross' decision.

Ross will join five other juco transfers with the Cougars next year, including four others from Illinois -- including Ross' fellow Arrowhead Conference player Jamere Dismukes from Black Hawk College.

Chicago State coach Tracy Dildy is looking for Ross and his fellow transfers to make an immediate impact for the Cougars, who finished 4-26 last season -- including 2-8 in the fledgling Great West Conference -- and were outscored by 14.3 points per game and saw opponents grab 119 more rebounds last season.

"Matt is one of the most competitive young men I have ever recruited," Dildy was quoted on the Chicago State website. "He is going to score as many points and grab as many rebounds that we will need to win, as he does not handle losing well. Matt is a do-all type of player, for he can both score inside or out."

FYI: Led Skyhawks in scoring, rebounding & blocks last season as team's MVP. ... Ranked 41st in NJCAA Division I in blocks (56) and 45th in rebounds (273) last season. ... Named first-team all-Arrowhead Conference & second-team all-Region IV last season, and was named to Region IV all-tournament team. ... Led Sauk in rebounding & blocks as a freshman, and was second in scoring. ... Led Skyhawks to 38-25 record last 2 seasons.